Matt Taibbi really doesn’t like Tom Friedman. He has written several articles taking Friedman apart, both for his writing and his thinking.
What educators have learned about Friedman is that he has no first-hand knowledge about schools and teaching. Whatever he writes seems to be based on conversations with Bill Gates or Arne Duncan. It’s a shame that a journalist who is so out of touch does not take the time to meet with teachers and principals and students, or take a few days in public schools to learn about their challenges and their accomplishments. Until he does, he should not write about what is happening in education–because he is uninformed–and should not offer advice about what ought to be done to improve education–because he is misinformed.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I respect Matt Taibbi more all the time. Highly recommend his books also.
There is an article today in a Westchester County, NY newspaper touting the roll our of common core. If there will be any momentum in the backlash against these failed policies, it will begin in wealthy suburban areas. Westchester County is a suburb of NYC and parents there are beginning to protest against NCLB and RTT. I urge the readers of this blog to go to the article and inform people of the damage this is doing to education:
http://www.lohud.com/article/20121028/NEWS/310280035/Common-Core-curriculum-3-R-s-get-an-overhaul?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cimg%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1
Sorry, roll out.
Honestly, it’s not reasonable to disqualify Friedman simply because he knows nothing. To do that would mean disqualifying Gates, Broad, the Walmart Family, Whitney Tilson, Arne Duncan, Oprah, Joel Klein, Barack Obama, Chris Christie, John White, Michael Bloomberg, Nicholas Whatever from the Times, Education Nation, Mitt, Michelle Rhee, and just about every education expert in the country.
Where would we be then?
Thank you, Matt Taibbi. I enjoyed that laugh a lot more than I did the link I posted myself last time we discussed Friedman (it was a serious economists’ deconstruction of Friedman’s blather).
Sometimes, mockery is more to the serious point.
The wind is starting to stir across my hilltop, by the way. After groceries, I’m going to REI and get one of those little hiker’s headlamps, so I can read an old-fashioned print page if the wifi goes down. Just in case.
There have been many downsides to the Great Recession but one of the worst is the cessation of investigative reporting. Many journalists, even our greatest ones, are now writing about education without any first-hand experience. There is some evidence that journalists who DO investigate are being punished for doing so. For example why was Michael Winerip, of the New York Times, removed as education reporter?
Stay safe Chemtchr, Dr. Ravitch, and others in the path of the storm. I just heard that NYC public schools are closed tomorrow. I’m still waiting to hear about my own district here in CT.
I’m closed too. Malloy is expected to shut the whole state down shortly.
Maybe we will get lucky and Stacy will whisk him away, far away…
Loved it!
But the dark underside of Friedman’s insanity is clear, as Taibbi alludes to–The Very Serious People are finally recognizing the disaster they created, but instead of rightfully taking responsibility, they’re again blaming the stupid, selfish public who doesn’t live in the VSP bubble and will need the wisdom of the VSPs to rescue them yet again. Start watching for Friedman to champion massive environmental engineering projects, like carbon sequestration, and nuclear energy in the near future.
I don’t care about anything that gigolo writes, unless he writes a book about how to marry a billionaire.
We all know about the Friedman Unit, right, and how it relates to his inability to distill evidence?
Diane, and others. Why have you ignored Milton Schwebel? If Tom and Arne – even Obama – had bothered to read: Remaking America’s Three School Systems (2003) and IF educational leaders had promoted the study of Schwebels’s work, we would have informed people who have a basis for their decisions. We know what to do and how to counter ignorance – but? What am I missing here?
Ed Berger, Ed.D.